Damn thought Liam, he pitied the one who would dare to make his man angry, Ian had nothing of a pacifist now, fortunately thanks to his strength he could crush all his opponents.

At least that was what Liam thought.

.................

At the training ground number 10, for once Alan was early and he was disappointed not to see Erik but he had no time to mope because Ashton was already there and when he saw him he came to greet him immediately.

Alan found him amusing and as they talked together he realized that Ashton, although he hadn't been excluded from his family as he had been, had to fend for himself because he had chosen to take a different path from the one his parents wanted him to take.

He admired his determination and when Ashton also revealed that he was a little nervous because Kevin had told him that he was going to introduce him to his duo fight partner and that he was going to start training him with a shortsword even though he had never held a weapon, Alan ruffled his hair and said to him with a smile : "There's no need to be nervous, you couldn't have found a better instructor than Kevin."

Alan thought for a brief moment before asking him : "If you've never held a weapon, does that mean you don't own one either ?"

Ashton nodded and explained to him : "I'm saving up money so I can buy a proper one, but I think I'll ask Kevin to come with me to help me choose one."

Alan shook his head and told him with a smile : "No need to save money for that, me and Axel have been keeping weapons we don't use anymore."

Alan took out two shortswords from his magic bag and said to him : "Here, take them, Erik doesn't need them because he's training with axes now.

And Kevin will be happy to make you a scabbard so you can carry them on your back."

Ashton, who had taken the shortswords in his hands, looked at them as if they were one of the seven wonders of the world, and Alan then said to him, still amused by the enthusiasm of this young man, who reminded him a little of what Erik was like when he was his age : "Here they are !"

Alan stepped back a little and opened his arms to welcome his man who was still looking at him with that adoration in his eyes that made him completely irresistible : "I missed you Sweetheart, for once I was early and I didn't get to see you train."

Erik put his hands on either side of his face and kissed him languidly then he said to him : "Sorry my love, we did a special training today, I'll tell you all about it tonight."

Alan nodded and said with an amused look on his face : "Are you sure you're going to be able to keep up with a training session with Kevin."

Erik then said smiling : "Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine."

Erik then put his head close to Alan's ear and whispered : "Be careful, Axel is working on his speed."

They both heard Axel's who said with a smirk : "I heard everything Erik, you traitor !"

Alan burst out laughing and hugged Erik tightly before kissing his forehead, he said while looking at Axel with a look of defiance in his eyes : "Don't worry Sweetheart, today I'm going to give him a good beating."

Axel looked at him with a frown, even in front of Erik Alan wasn't the type to brag, so he gave Kevin a sideways glance but before he could ask him anything Kevin approached Ashton and he asked him : "These weapons seem great, are they yours ?"

Ashton handed them to him when he saw that Kevin was holding out his hand so he could test them and he said to him honestly : "Alan just gave them to me."

Kevin winked at Alan to thank him and he quickly looked at the Stats of these shortswords.

[ ITEM ]

Low grade Shortsword : + 30 Strength points, + 10 Agility points, + 10 Stamina points.

[ ITEM ]

Medium grade Shortsword : + 80 Strength points, + 40 Agility points, + 30 Stamina points.

Kevin whistled in admiration, those Stats were very good, these weapons will be perfect for Ashton to start training.

He skillfully twirled the two shortswords in his hands and performed some basic moves with them and as he had expected, like all weapons that had Stats, they were perfectly balanced and easy to handle.historical

Ashton had already seen Kevin fight Alan with a wooden sword, but to see him handle these two shortswords so easily was truly spectacular.

It was as if he was performing a dance with them, and there was no hesitation in his movements, which showed that he had a lot of experience in this area.

Ashton was not a simpleton and he had quickly realized that there was something wrong with Kevin's behavior.

He had also seen his experience in fighting in their spell classes, Kevin was always looking for a way to use spells that could help him in real combat and not just to win a tournament.

His experience with weapons and his fighting skills did not match his age, and on the other hand the progression of his Soul force reserve, which by the way was also extraordinary, matched perfectly with a mage of his age who would be very talented.

The mystery surrounding Kevin continued to baffle him, but since he had so much more to gain by trusting him, it didn't bother him much.

Kevin returned his shortswords to him with a smile and said : "Keep them safe, at first we'll only use wooden weapons to limit accidents during training."

Ashton nodded and thanked Alan again for providing him with these weapons, he didn't know much about weapons, but he knew that with the little money he had managed to save, it would have been difficult for him to buy such good ones.

Kevin turned back to Axel and asked him : "So where is Ashton's partner ?"

Axel pointed to the training ground and said : "She's already there practicing."

Kevin moved closer to him and followed his gaze, he saw a young girl who was rather small, her head had to barely reach his shoulders.

She had long auburn hair that she had tied at the top of her head and he could see that her body although small was athetic and that she seemed quite agile.

She was practicing with a pair of sai that she handled perfectly and she was so focused on her training that she hadn't noticed them yet.